Oats (Jai)

Land Preparation

Two ploughings and planking. Oats is the main winter green fodder alongside berseem and is often sown mixed with it.

Sowing Time & Method

Mid-October to November. Sowing with berseem gives a better balanced fodder than either alone.

Seed Rate & Treatment

30–35 kg per acre alone, or 15 kg mixed with berseem.

Fertilizer

One bag DAP at sowing, one bag urea after each cut.

Irrigation

Every 20–25 days through winter.

Weed Control

Weed Damage Control Product
Wild Oat (Jangli Jai) Takes the water and fertiliser at tillering and cannot be picked out of the crop, so the cut comes lighter. Clean certified seed; rogue out the earheads before they shed
Canary Grass (Dumbi Sitti) Comes up thick in irrigated fields and takes the water and nitrogen at tillering, so the first cut weighs less. Pre-sowing rauni, then plough under the weed flush before drilling
Bathu (Lambsquarters) Comes up after the first irrigation, shades the young oats and eats the fertiliser, leaving a thin first cut. One hoeing when the field comes to working moisture after the first irrigation
Field Bindweed (Lehli) Twines round the tillers and pulls them down, making the crop hard to cut and dropping the fodder weight. Cut the runners out with a khurpa, root and all
Jangli Palak (Dock) Its broad flat leaves hold the ground where the crop should be, leaving bare patches in the stand. Dig it out root and all before it flowers

Wild oat is hard to separate from the crop; use clean certified seed.

Insect Pests

Aphid in warm spells.

Diseases

Rusts in a mild, damp winter.

Harvesting

First cut at 55–60 days, then every 30–35 days. Two to three cuts, with the last left for seed if wanted.

Expected Yield

350–500 maund green fodder per acre.

Pests & diseases of Oats (Jai)

Aphidsmedium Wild Oat (Avena fatua)medium Yellow Rusthigh Brown Rustmedium Nitrogen Deficiencymedium Salinity and Sodicityhigh Phosphorus Deficiencymedium Micronutrient Deficiencymedium